Lyre of Gold
by Wilona Riva
Summary: "What does it do?" Tucker asked.    "Plays a special type of music only halfas can hear."
1. Music

Lyre of Gold

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom.

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_Part of the "The White Dreamer" collection._

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**Music**

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"Mrs. Fenton, I didn't know you could play the harp," Tucker said, examining the small hand-held stringed instrument his best friend's mother was fine-tuning.

"It's not a harp, Tucker Foley," Madeline Fenton replied, taking off her goggles. "It's a lyre, molded with a platinum/gold alloy. Once, I get this baby fine-tuned, we'll see what she can do."

"What does it do?" Tucker asked.

"Plays a special type of music only halfas can hear."

Tucker nearly choked. "A halfa? What's a 'halfa'?" he asked cautiously.

"Jack and I caught a cat ghost a few nights ago and interrogated it," Maddie replied, ignoring Tucker's 'tortured it' aside.

"It revealed some interesting facts about the inhabitants of the Ghost Zone. It seems that there creatures out there that can exist both in the human world and in the ghost world, who walk the fine line between life and death."

"So what does the lyre do?" Tucker asked. He had to know to warn Danny, who was upstairs finishing a game of DOOM with Sam. He had gotten killed earlier in the game so he had wandered downstairs to visit with Mrs. Fenton in the lab.

"When played, it will spell-bind any halfa within hearing range, which is about a city block right now," she said, tightening the last string. "It also triggers the transformation into a ghost, to make it easier to capture them."

"Mrs. Fenton, I don't think..." he sighed. He was too late; she had run her fingers across the strings playing a whimsical melody.

"Well, it plays fine," she said, "just need to tighten the strings a bit more."

"You don't think any halfas heard that, do you?" Tucker asked her nervously.

Maddie was about to answer when she heard footsteps coming down into the lab. _Could a halfa have heard the music? That was quick._

She looked up as the person in question came into view. She looked into the ice blue eyes of her son, now dull and listless. "Danny?"

"Heard music," he mumbled, ice blue eyes giving way to ghostly green as the spell of the music forced his transformation.

Maddie dropped the lyre.


	2. Upstairs, Downstairs

Lyre of Gold

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom.

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**Upstairs, Downstairs**

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"Whatdo you think Tucker is doing?" Sam asked, repeatedly pushing the red x on the control. "Danny, behind you!"

"Damn!" she saw the bubble float above his head. "That was too close, Sam. Those ninja were right on top of me."

"Why don't come on out of there?" she suggested, logging out of Doom.

"Right."

Moments later, Danny pulled himself out of the computer screen. "It's still feels weird using my ghost powers like that."

"Then don't," Sam told him, then she cocked her head to one side, motioning for him to listen.

He blinked. "Music?"

"Sounds like a harp," Sam said, then frowned. "Danny, what's wrong with your eyes? Danny?"

The halfa neither heard nor saw her. The music had spun a golden web of notes over him; he felt compelled to go downstairs to the lab for some reason.

Sam rose to her feet and followed him. This could not be good. The Fentons must be tinkering with a new ghost-capturing invention.

When Danny reached the bottom of the stairs and mumbled something about hearing music, she watched in shock as he transformed into his alter ego, Phantom.

"Danny?" Mrs. Fenton whispered. "You're a halfa?"

Sam looked at Tucker, who shook his head in denial. "Now, what are we going to do?"

"No idea," he told her.


	3. Cat

Lyre of Gold

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom.

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_Dedicated those who encouraged me to continue and gave me the ideas and constructive criticism to improve this story. You know who you are. _

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**Cat**

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The ghost huntress walked around the Phantom, not daring to touch him. The lyre's haunting melody prevented Danny from moving, all he could do was face Tucker and Sam, and plead with them for help with his eyes. The huntress came around to face him again and lifted his chin up so that his eyes were looking into her own. "Why didn't you tell us, Danny?" If she had known...she had no idea how she would have reacted. Sure, she was shocked, but everything was happening so fast tonight, she wasn't able to keep up with all the emotions bottled up inside waiting for release.

Tucker looked at Sam, who just looked up at the ceiling. He sighed. Apparently it was one of those of days. He took a deep breath.

"Actually, he wanted to, Mrs. Fenton, but he was afraid. You and Mr. Fenton kept talking about dissecting ghosts and ripping them apart, that he had just about given up on the idea all together. You are taking it better than we thought you would."

Maddie let her son go and turned and faced the other two teenagers in the room. "You don't seem surprised, yourselves," she said.

"We were there," Sam said, before Tucker could open his mouth. "We've always been there." She glanced at the musical instrument that was apparently playing itself. "Battery?"

"Mini ecto-cell," Maddie confirmed.

"You said you talked to a cat ghost, who told you about the existence of halfas," Tucker said. "What made you change your mind about something you were so adamant couldn't be scientifically proven?"

"I don't know," Maddie replied. "I just wanted to believe, I guess."

"Why is it that the three of us can hear the music and not be affected by it?" Tucker asked.

"Each of us has been exposed to strong doses of ectoplasmic interference in some way, I would suppose," Maddie mused. "I come into contact with it every day."

"I was briefly turned into something akin to a ghost by Undergrowth during the plant invasion last month," Sam said, shooting a warning look to Tucker, who turned a bit green. "And I already said I was sorry five times now for trying to turn you into plant chow."

Tucker shut his mouth. "Well, I suppose," he said, "that all that hoopla with Desiree at the beginning might have lingered still in my blood."

"You never did tell me everything that happened that day," Sam muttered.

"And I'm not going to," Tucker told her pointedly. "So drop it. Going back to the cat ghost, Mrs. F, what exactly did it tell you guys? I'm assuming that the Ghost Gabber worked properly."

"Yes, it did," Maddie said.

* * *

(Flashback - Maddie's POV)

"MRROW!"

"I'll tell you anything you want to know, hunters. Just let me live. I beg you, please. I've only got eight more lives, left, ya know. Fear me." Okay, so the Ghost Gabber wasn't exactly perfect when translating ghost speech, but it was working properly.

So on it went into the night. Jack and I kept alternating the questions; keeping it busy while the machines took the data we set the perimeters for. It was when it was talking about the various types of ghosts that inhabited the Zone, it let slip that halfas had a heightened awareness of the five senses than most ghosts or mortals. Jack and I brainstormed and came up with perhaps the right musical notes, we may be able to paralyse a ghost long enough to run a few tests. Not all ghosts are evil, if Phantom is right.

(End flashback)

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There wasn't any need for Maddie to go into detail about what equipment they had used; the evidence was all around them. Ectoplasm coated the tables, wall and some portions of the floor. A pink "World's Best Mom" mug sat with day-old stagnant coffee next to a tray filled with some blue putty-like substance.

Tucker looked at the clock on the wall. It read 3:13 pm. "So why can't Danny move? He has got to be panicking right now."

Sam breathed a sigh of relief that the topic of Vlad and Danni wasn't brought up. She looked back at Danny, who twitched his left foot a little. "I think it is beginning to wear off now," Sam told Maddie. "Would it be possible for you to turn off the lyre?"

Maddie shook her head. "It is off, Sam. I only heard the music when I was fine tuning it."

Tucker nodded. "Same here," he said. "Sam, you should not be able to hear the music."

"I probably still retain some of what Undergrowth did to me during that week we were under his control, just not enough to fall under the music's spell."

A pop and a gasp later, Danny fell to all fours, white hair falling into emerald eyes, a slight dazed expression on his face. Maddie went to help him up, but he brushed her off.

"You've done enough to help me," he told her brusquely. "Let me get my bearings and we'll talk, Mother."

That stung Maddie. Danny only called her Mother when he was really upset with her. "Alright, Danny. Sam, get him a chair, please."

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**Author's Note: There's a lot more I could cover here and some parts fall flat, but I'm going to pick it up from Danny's POV next time. The lyre was able to affect Danny, but not Sam, because of the levels of ectoplasm in their blood. **


	4. Danny the Halfa

Lyre of Gold

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom.

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**Danny the Halfa**

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"How did it happen, Danny?" Mom asked me, while I was leaning on Sam. Tucker had gone to fetch a chair from the kitchen.

My green eyes glinted angrily at her. "I got electrocuted when I turned on the Fenton Portal," I told her. "Dad installed the on switch inside of it."

"What?" Mom was speechless. If I wasn't her son, she would have blasted me back into the Ghost Zone by now. "Go on."

"I tripped on some wires," I continued, "and accidentally depressed it. It hurt."

" ' It hurt? ' " Sam said, lightly smacking my shoulder. "You were screaming like you were drowning and your insides were being twisted inside out."

I looked at her. "That too," I added.

"I think we can bypass the chair," Sam told me. "You're beginning to float again."

"Oh," I said, looking down at my feet.

Mom watched me move sit Indian style in mid air.

"Fascinating," she murmured.

"Aye, Mr. Spock," I affirmed with a twinkle in my eye. As much as I love my parents, I can't really mad at them for very long.

"Still mad at me?" she asked, seeing Tucker pause on the stairway with a chair in his hand.

"No," I answered, turning to look at him. "Not needed any more, but thanks."

"Good," he said, bringing it down the rest of the way. "You can bring it back up. That thing weighs a ton of bricks."

"You grabbed my dad's chair," I reminded him.

"Oh, that explains the weight," he muttered.

Sam whacked both of us in the back of the head.

"Mom, I know you have a lot of questions concerning halfas, but I need you to do something for me first," I pleaded with her.

"What would that be?" she asked.

"Turn off the music, please. It's preventing me from turning back."

"It is off, Danny," she said, frowning a bit.

Sam shook her head as if to clear it. "I can only hear faint echoes of it now," she said.

"It's too loud," I complained, covering my ears for emphasis.

Mom went over to the stringed instrument, a lyre she called it, and removed four small cylindrical tubes from it. The music ceased. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Better?" she asked.

"Thanks," I told her. "So what do you want to know about halfas?"

"Everything," she said, "just let me get my recorder."


	5. Listening

Lyre of Gold

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom.

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**Listening**

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"I have something I want you to listen to, Jack," I told my husband when he returned home a few hours later.

"About what?" he asked, putting down the groceries and a Fenton thermos that was rattling suspiciously.

"What did you catch?"

"That Phantom kid," he replied. "And he's going to stay in there."

I heard a faint groan and a muffled yell from the Thermos. "Bring the thermos; you might need it after you listen to a recording I made earlier." Mentally, I was greatly relieved that Danny had recovered enough to go out ghost hunting after his ordeal, but he knew, and I knew, he was dead meat when I got my hands on him.

Jack grabbed a box of fudge and some water and I placed the recorder on the table. "Ready?" I asked.

"Shoot," he replied.

I pressed the button and Phantom's voiced echoed in the silence:

_Me: How long have you been a half ghost?_

_Phantom: Since April._

_Me: And why didn't you tell us?_

_Phantom: I was scared. You're always talking about dissecting ghosts and stuff and frankly, you guys are going to scare me into an early grave._

_Me: It's all bluff mostly, Danny._

_Phantom (in a wry tone): Dad's aim is improving._

_Me: True. So are there any other halfas we should know about?_

_Phantom: I can't._

_Me: You know, but you can't tell us?_

_Phantom (in a low whisper): I promised._

I reached over and turned off the recording, at the same time, picking up the thermos and pressed the release button. Phantom fell out and muttered a few curse words. I arched a disapproving eyebrow at him.

He frowned. "Sorry, Mom."

"Don't let me hear those words coming out of your mouth again, young man. Now, show your father."

Danny slowly turned and faced his poleaxed father. "Uh, hi, Dad."

"You deliberately shot at me tonight, Danny boy," he said, a bit of steel in his voice. "Maddie, how do I know he hasn't brain-washed you? My son cannot be the ghost boy."

"It's unbelievable, but true," Danny reassured him. "Here, I'll show you." He detransformed. "I'm sorry for shooting at you, but you were too close to getting hit by Skulker's stun beam. Again, I am sorry."

"How did this happen?" Jack asked.

"I've recovered the surveillance footage, Jack," I told him. "We'll look at it later."

"Okay," he said. He was silent for a moment, then nodded his head as he reached an internal agreement. "Danny."

"Yes, sir?"

"You will be reporting to the police department tomorrow morning and volunteering to help clean up the remnants of tonight's ghost fight since you caused most of the damage."

"But Skulker was..."

"Mostly mostly at fault for instigating it, but you collapsed that building on top of him. People lived there, Danny. You will also contact the building's owner and personally apologize to everyone who lived there. Growing up does not give you an excuse to run away from your troubles."

"Yes, sir," Danny said in a resigned manner. "Anything else?"

"You're grounded for the rest of your after life."

"What? Mom, tell Dad that's going too far!"

"Jack!"

"Okay, for a week then," he agreed, backing down. "But you are going to start learning how to properly care for each Fenton device you've borrowed and the proper use for each one, starting the first thing tomorrow. Don't forget to tell Tucker and Sam as they are also to be learning this with you as part of their punishment."

"How did you know?"

"Danny, they are always glued to your side. You don't think your mother and I haven't noticed?"

"Oh."

"Go, get washed up for dinner, Danny. It'll be ready in about 10 minutes," I said, effectively ending the conversation.

He nodded, then raced out of the room as I rounded on my husband. "Jack Fenton, why didn't you tell me you already knew his secret?"

"It was his to tell when the time was right," he replied. "We'll talk about it some more when tomorrow after we pick up Jazz from the airport. I'm assuming she knows as well."

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**Author's Note: I'll explain how Jack knew Danny's secret in the next chapter, which, my dear readers, will be the official and final ending to our beloved saga. What shall I do with the lyre?**


	6. The How of It

Lyre of Gold

By: Wilona Riva

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom.

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**The How of It**

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Danny mulled it over and still could not figure out how his father knew his secret. He sighed and shoved the matter to the back of his mind. After performing his father's community service, he was now sitting at the kitchen table waiting.

Waiting for whatever his father wanted to tell him, he supposed. It was anyone's guess as to what Jack Fenton thought about, the majority of the time. He heard a faint sound of the lyre from downstairs, the music starting to weave it's spell, then a smashing, strings breaking, and Jack's shout of triumph.

"What the heck?" he muttered, the leadening feeling in his limbs vanishing as suddenly as the compulsion had set upon him by the music.

"Danny, come down here, please," Jack called upstairs.

"Yes, sir," the half-ghost responded, switching back to human mode. _Blasted lyre!_

The remains of the lyre were on the experimenting table before Jack, a few power tools scattered here and there. Danny froze mid-step. "Why, Dad?"

"You," he replied. "You wanted to know how I knew your secret."

"That's why you called me down here," he said, shifting a bit nervously.

"Yes," Jack answered. "You know ghosts have a language all on their own."

"Yeah," Danny admitted. He had always conversed with them in English and assumed they did the same, but an incident with Clockwork taught him different.

"A language has to be learned, Danny; it has to be taught," his father replied, his back still to him. He flicked a switch, turning on the Ghost Gabber. "Speak."

**"**Uh, I don't know what to say," he stammered, fear rising in his voice. The Ghost Gabber repeated his words perfectly, no 'I am a ghost. Fear me' nonsense added afterwards." His father switched it off.

"I had it on with me last night, a portable version," his father replied. "When you and Technus were bantering in the ghost language, it translated everything perfectly. It only adds those nonsense words when you are speaking in English in its proximity. That's how I found out."

"Oh."

"You did everything I told you to do, today?" his father asked, turning around to look his son in the face.

"Yes, sir."

"Good." Two burly arms wrapped Danny in a bear hug. "Danny, I am proud of you, of what you have become. I love you."

"I love you too, Dad."


End file.
